I have been reading some of Allan Monk-house’s other work, in particular his novel True Love, published in 1919. With regards to MARY BROOME, it’s almost like reading his private diary (had he kept one). The novel’s protagonist, Geoffrey Arden, lives in Manchester and works for the city’s main newspaper just as Monkhouse did. Like Monkhouse, Geof-frey has written a play for the local repertory com-pany: Alice Dean —an ob-vious stand-in for MARY BROOME.

The novel offers insight into the composition of Alice Dean, Geoffrey’s sec-ond play. With Alice Dean, Geoffrey “seemed to have made the discovery that it is easy to write plays. It was an illusion, no doubt, but not wholly an illu-sion…One speech provoked another, and his charac-ters seemed to do the work themselves.” Before long, the play is scheduled for production and Geoffrey receives a letter from Elleray, the company’s leading man who has been cast in the key role.

The letter was a request to be permitted to “alter a few lines” with the object of “making the part more sympathetic.” It was not so much that Elleray wanted to put things in, but that he did very positively wish to take things out. He could not give details in the let-ter, but Geoffrey might “rest assured that the great-est discretion would be observed,” and the character would emerge much more to the taste of the audi-ence than in its original condition.

Geoffrey agrees to meet Elleray over tea and muffins. The actor comes prepared with a “bundle of cues and speeches.”

[Geoffrey] glanced over a page or two, and it seemed to him that there was going to be a devil of a row. All sort of salient things were roughly scored out in pencil, and his first impulse to kick over the apple cart was succeeded by a rather pleasant feeling of power… He found no difficulty in being mild and ami-

able and treating Elleray as a reasonable being. He gave a little sketch of the general intention to which Elleray listened with a slight sulkiness, and then they went through the part in detail…Once or twice he had to be firm, once or twice he made trifling con-cessions with an air of deferring to mature judgment and generally he showed Elleray how good the lines were which had been crossed out, and how remark-ably they would tell when they were delivered ex-quisitely—as they would be. The lines were restored, Elleray having thoughtfully provided himself with a piece of india-rubber. They parted amicably, though Elleray managed to convey presage of disaster to the play.

Imagine my delight when Heather Violanti, our staff dramaturg, discovered that the University of Manchester Library had a trove of letters written to Monkhouse, including seven from Milton Rosmer, the actor who played the key role of Leonard Tim-brell in the play’s first production. Reading these let-ters made it obvious that Rosmer was the basis for the fictional Elleray. The library sent us digital cop-ies; Rosmer’s handwriting was rather inscrutable but my assistant, Jesse Marchese, slaved over them and managed to make usable transcriptions:

first priority club news

IN THIS ISSUE:

mary broome:backstage drama

By Jonathan Bank

An Except mary broome

By Allan Monkhouse

About the Playwrightallan monkhouse

enrichmint events

A Special EnrichMint Eventthe conquering hero

spring benefit 2012

MARY BROOME: Backstage Dramaby Jonathan Bank

Milton Rosmer’s third letter to Allan Monkhouse detailing his suggestions for MARY BROOME

Dear Mr. Monkhouse,

I am writing to ask if you could spare me a few minutes to see you soon about the part in your play. I am in the greatest difficulty and distress about it at present. Its length makes it almost impossible to study prop-erly in the time, and there are one or two of the speeches that I wish to consult you about as the suggestions I have made to the producer seem profitless as naturally one cannot tamper with a man’s work without his own participation. At present I really feel it impossible to do either you or myself jus-tice with “Leonard”, but I think if we could talk it over a little it might be mutually ad-vantageous – or at any rate simplify my pre-dicament.

Sincerely yours,

Milton Rosmer

As a repertory actor, Rosmer would be re-hearsing MARY BROOME during the day while playing other roles at night, so it’s easy to appreciate his concerns about memori-zation. Leonard has 40% of the play’s text, about 6,500 words. But Rosmer had deeper concerns: “You make Leonard say some things that will make the audience stamp him as an out & out blackguard which is not, I take it, what you mean.”

Elleray sulked through rehearsals of Alice Dean, with an “an air of profound dissat-isfaction,” just as we may suppose Rosmer sulked while rehearsing MARY BROOME.

Actors have a pathetic desire to be regard-ed with affection, and in consequence they lose a little in austerity…And so Elleray, crav-ing affectionate sympathy, didn’t like at all that he should have to portray ugly, sinister qualities in his parts.

In the end Elleray rose to the occasion and Alice Dean was a success, just as Rosmer managed make good in MARY BROOME. Monkhouse was never satisfied with his per-formance—he told fellow playwright Stan-ley Houghton as much (another fact we ascertained thanks to the letters at the Uni-versity of Manchester).

In 1912 the Repertory Company went to London with MARY BROOME and several other plays. Rosmer sent clippings to Monk-house: “I think you are to be congratulated on the reception of the play, don’t you?” But Rosmer could not help adding a dig:

I feel a deep sense of gratitude to the critic who objects to your writing at the end of Act III! … Wont you reconsider if it goes up again, and re-write that bit?

MARY BROOME Continued

sheila: Edgar, I wish Leonard wasn’t coming to the wedding.

edgar: But, my dear girl—

sheila: Oh! I know. I know. Of course he must be best man. It would be all wrong if he wasn’t but somehow he’s so queer and different and I don’t feel safe with him and I don’t know what he’ll do or say. Of course he can be charming. I think he’s a flirt. You always know when he’s in the room.

edgar: Of course these artist people are very self-conscious and assertive and—

sheila: But he’s not assertive. He’s—he’s seductive. And he makes fun of things.

edgar: No harm in that.

sheila: Yes, there is. He makes fun of the wrong things. Why do you call him an artist, Edgar? He’s not one.

edgar: Oh! he’s artistic- literary and so on- it’s all the same.

sheila: But he’s a barrister, isn’t he?

edgar: Oh! yes, of sorts. He never had a brief.

sheila: Then how does he—I mean how does he get an in-come? Why doesn’t he go into the business, too?

edgar: Oh! ho! Leonard in the business! No. The old Pater prefers to pay him a handsome allowance to keep out. Leon-ard makes about five shillings a month by literature.

sheila: How horrid to be quite dependent like that! Why do you let him?

edgar: Bless you! I don’t want him in the business. It suits me well enough.

An excerpt- Mary Broome by Allan Monkhouse

Above: Actor, Milton Rosmer who originated the role of Leonard Below: Irene Rooke, Rosmer’s wife who played opposite him in the title role.

Allan Monkhouse (1858-1936) was a dramatist, novelist, and crit-ic known for his piquant portray-al of middle class life in northern England. He startled audiences with complex characters, who pierced societal niceties as they grappled with the contradictions of a rapidly changing world.

Monkhouse was born to a middle class Quaker family in the north-ern English town of Barnard Castle. He began his professional life in the cotton trade, one of the region's main industries.

Monkhouse’s business experience led to a stint writing freelance market reports for local papers, which led, at age 44, to a job at the Manchester Guardian. Once at The Guardian full-time, Monkhouse took to writing book and theatre reviews—even though he doubted, at first, that he would succeed. Monkhouse recalled the dread of filing his first review, telling his editor “You’ll never get another from me because it is so bad”—but seeing his words in print the next day changed his mind. Monkhouse became one of the Guardian’s most prominent critics, known especially for his weekly column “Bookman’s Notes,” offering lively literary commentary.

Monkhouse began writing plays at the encourage-ment of director and philanthropist Annie Horni-man, who’d moved to Manchester to rejuvenate the Gaiety. (Mint audiences may recall Horniman supported Dublin’s Abbey Theatre during its early years). Horniman transformed the Gaiety into Eng-land’s first regional repertory and the home of the Manchester School, a vigorous new style of writing. “Manchester School” plays portrayed modern life in northern England with unprecedented frankness, exploring the tumult of social change with both wit and humor. In 1908, the year Horniman began her management of the Gaiety, Monkhouse penned the very first “Manchester School” play, Reaping The Whirlwind, a terse one-act about a marriage on the verge of collapse, portrayed in disquieting detail. James Agate, a fellow Guardian critic, praised it as "sane and real and full of irrepressible helplessness in the face of terrible happenings.”

Monkhouse’s first major theatrical success was MARY BROOME, a biting comedy about a household turned upside down by an upstairs/downstairs liaison. The play opened at the Gaiety in 1911 to strong re-views (C.E. Montague praised it as a “remarkable piece of work” in The Guardian) and transferred to London in 1912. While some were offended by the play, it enjoyed a healthy run in London and became a staple of regional repertoire. The fuss over MARY BROOME paled

in comparison to the uproar over Monkhouse’s THE CONQUER-ING HERO, (first performed in

1924) a bracing examination of objection to World War I and the war’s psychological aftermath. In the play, a young artist stuns his family by objecting to the war—then, on a whim, he joins the army anyway. When he returns home from the front, he is so shell-shocked he cannot bear to be celebrated as “the conquering hero”—something his family and community cannot comprehend. The Observer deemed it “nothing less than a great play,” but some audience members were not yet able to accept a critical view of the war. Newspapers were flooded with letters protesting the play, but it became one of Monkhouse’s most popular.

In all, Monkhouse wrote 20 plays and 10 novels while continuing to work at The Guardian, where he added a golf column to his book and theatre du-ties. In 1929, Monkhouse received an honorary doctorate from the University of Manchester, with the citation that his work proved “how empty may be the antithesis that is commonly drawn between journalism and literature.”

A private man, Monkhouse revealed little of his per-sonal life, though his novels—particularly True Love (1920), about a journalist-turned-playwright who writes a play very much like MARY BROOME—offer veiled hints. His family life was tinged with tragedy. His first wife, Lucy Dowie, died in 1894 after only a year of marriage. Monkhouse did not remarry until 1902—the same year he began work-ing full-time at The Guardian—when he wed Eliza-beth Dorothy Pearson, with whom he would have four children.

Monkhouse died on January 11, 1936 after a lin-gering illness. In his obituary, The Guardian praised Monkhouse’s “sincerity in all things and the untir-ing independence of his mind.”

About the Playwright Allan Monkhouse

A drawing of Allan Monkhouse by his sister Florence Monkhouse (circa 1924)

Mint Alum to be featured in upcoming MARY BROOME: From TOP to BOTTOM: Janie Brook-shire in Wife to James Whelan, Rodrick Hill in The Return of the Prodigal, Kristen Griffith in The Charity That Began at Home, and Doug Rees in What the Public Wants

Sunday, August 19, after the matineeDr. Carol W. Berman: “On the Couch with Leonard:”

An Analysis of Leonard Timbrell

Leonard Timbrell is a fascinating character—witty and bit-ingly self-aware, yet strangely diffident and lacking purpose. In this discussion, psychiatrist Dr. Carol W. Berman, a specialist in personality disorders, puts the character of Leonard “on the couch”—metaphorically speaking—analyzing his personality and choices. Dr. Carol W. Berman has practiced psychiatry in New York City for 25 years and is the author of 100 Questions and Answers About Panic Disorder and Personality Disorders. She is a clinical assistant professor in psychiatry at NYU, where she earned her medical degree. An artist and playwright as well as a psychiatrist, her plays have been produced by the Workshop at the Neighborhood Playhouse and Ego Actus Productions.

Saturday, August 25, after the matineeDr. John P. Harrington, author of

The Life of the Neighborhood Playhouse on Grand Street

Dr. John P. Harrington, author of The Life of the Neighbor-hood Playhouse on Grand Street, charts the Playhouse’s history, with particular emphasis on its 1919 production of MARY BROOME, the play’s New York premiere. Founded in 1915 by philanthropists Alice and Irene Lewisohn, and known for cham-pioning thought-provoking plays shunned by commercial pro-ducers, the Playhouse helped pave the way for the Off-Broadway movement. Harrington is Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Fordham University. He has written ex-tensively on theatre history, with particular emphasis on Irish theatre.

Saturday, September 8, after the matineePatricia Denison, Barnard University:

The Edwardian Angry Young Man.

In 1958, just as the “Angry Young Man” began to rage on British stages, railing against establishment hypocrisy, Granada Televi-sion broadcast MARY BROOME—and critics were astounded by angry young Edwardian Leonard Timbrell. “A blood broth-er to George Dillon and Jimmy Porter,” declared the London Times critic, comparing him to the protagonists of John Os-borne’s searing Look Back in Anger and Epitaph for George Dil-lon. Robert Stephens, who had played George Dillon, portrayed Leonard on the broadcast—reinforcing the link.

In light of this comparison, Patricia Denison, Director of Un-dergraduate Studies in Drama and Theatre at Barnard College and editor of John Osborne A Casebook, will discuss Leonard as antecedent to the “Angry Young Man.” Join us for this thought-provoking comparison of two surprisingly similar eras and dra-matic traditions.

Saturday September 15, after the matineeJoshua Glenn and Mark Kingwell, co-authors of The Idler’s Glossary

Joshua Glenn and Mark Kingwell, co-authors of The Idlers’ Glos-sary, examine the character of Leonard Timbrell in light of the modern “idler.” Just as Leonard shocks Edwardian society by refusing to work and questioning the status quo, so the modern idler questions current work and social structures. Indeed, “to be idle” in the philosophic tradition is not to reject work, but to contemplate—and perhaps redefine—the very nature of work itself.

Joshua Glenn is a Boston-based writer, editor, and semiotics analyst. In addition to co-authoring The Idler’s Glossary, he is the co-author or co-editor of Taking Things Seriously, The Wage-Slave’s Glossary, Significant Objects, and Unbored. He is also a co-founder of the websites HiLoBrow, Significant Objects, and Semionaut. In the 1990s, he edited the philosophy and pop-culture-themed Hermenaut, described by Michael Stutz of Wired as “a scholarly journal minus the university, a sounding board for thinking folk who operate outside the ivory tower.” Glenn has a master’s degree in teaching from Boston University.

Mark Kingwell is a professor of philosophy at the University of Toronto. As a philosopher, he has focused on questions of social obligation and the role of citizenship in maintaining a just and democratic society. He is the author of several books, including Glenn Gould, Opening Gambits, Concrete Reveries, Nearest Thing to Heaven, Nothing for Granted, The World We Want, and Better Living. He is also co-editor of Rites of Way: The Politics and Poetics of Public Space. He has won the Spitz Prize for political theory, the Drummer-General’s Award for non-fiction, and national magazine awards for his essays and columns. Dr. Kingwell holds a Ph.D and MPhil from Yale University.

Wednesday, September 19th, after the matineeVlasta Vranjes, Fordham University:

MARY BROOME & Marriage in Edwardian England

The housemaid is pregnant, the second son of the household is the father: is marriage “the right thing”—given their class and personality differences? Dr. Vlasta Vranjes, a professor in the English department at Fordham, discusses Leonard and Mary’s union in terms of Edwardian marriage laws and societal expecta-tions, which were shaped by strict class and gender roles. Dr. Vranjes is the author of English Vows: Marriage and National Identity in Nineteenth-Century Literature and Culture, and her current research examines literary responses to Victorian mar-riage legislation.

EnrichMINT Events MARY BROOME

THE CONQUERING HERO by Allan Monkhouse is a bracing examination of objection to World War I and the war’s psychological aftermath. In the play, a young artist stuns his family by objecting to the war—then, on a whim, he joins the army anyway.

Although the play did not receive a production until 1924, Monkhouse’s private letters date a finished manuscript of the play back to 1915. The British censor, G.S. Street sheds a bit of light on to this mysterious situation in his report of the play for the Lord Chamberlain:

I have read that the author did not want this play acted during the war. Rightly, I think, and at that time it might not have been licensed, because the ‘pacifist’ argument in the first part might have had a bad effect. But I see no reason now for withholding a licence. The arguments in the play are familiar and the realities of war are now known. It is a moving play to which a bare analysis cannot do justice.

Monkhouse’s hesitations proved correct, and the lessons won by having lived through the war allowed British au-diences to accept THE CONQUERING HERO’s contro-versial arguments. The play opened to positive notices on the West End and was hailed as “nothing else than a great play. ”

The piece went on to become regard-ed as Monkhouse’s career-defining achievement and one of the quintes-sential anti-war plays of the 1920s. In 1936, The Guardian published an obituary for Allan Monkhouse, claim-ing that “THE CONQUERING HERO probed the conflicting loyalties and ideals of a typical English family under stress of war with a sympathy and bal-ance that Galsworthy could not have bettered.”

London’s Orange Tree Theatre enjoyed a successful production of THE CON-QUERING HERO earlier this spring. Now is your chance to hear “a work that can be ranked with O'Casey's The Silver Tassie as among the finest anti-war plays.”

George Robb has been a member of the History Department at William Paterson University since 1993. He received his BA from the University of Texas and his PhD from Northwestern University. He teaches courses in British and Irish history and the history of crime. Professor Robb has pub-lished numerous articles on British social and cultural history, and he is the author of British Culture and the First World War (2002).

The book is a brief but comprehensive sur-vey of British society and culture during the First World War. In it, Robb concentrates not on military campaigns and battle strategies, but on the lives of ordinary Britons - how they responded to and were affected by the war, how they attempted to understand the conflict and to explain it to others, and how they have dealt with the war's legacies in the years since.

The Conquering HeroBy Allan Monkhouse

Monday, October 15th

DINNER: 6:00 PM

$60 PER PERSON for FPC Members

(Includes Dinner & Reading)

READING: 8:00 PM

Join fellow Mint friends and historian George Robb, author of “British Culture and the First World War” for dinner at Etcetera Etcetera on West 44th St. Enjoy a delicious meal while Dr. Robb prepares you for the reading at the Mint. The reading will be followed by cookies and coffee with the cast.

Etcetera Etcetera is located at 352 W. 44th St. (between 8th & 9th Ave.)

(between 8th and 9th Ave.)

READING ONLY: FREE for FPC

A Night Out with the Mint!A Special EnrichMINT Event

ABOVE From Left to Right: Mint alums, Kate Levy, Sara Surrey, Sam Soules, and Stephen Schnetzer perform A Man & Some Women by Rachel Crothers. BELOW Left: Jonathan Bank thanks a guest as the evening wraps up. Middle: Benefit Committee member, Litsa Tsitsera with friend John Benscoter. Left: Benefit guests Cathy Velenchick and Christopher Joy.

We wanted to share the festivities from our Spring Benefit celebrat-ing Rachel Crothers on April 23rd, 2012.

LEFT: Leslie Hendrix (Su-san & God) reads from Benefit Co-Chair, Anne Sheffield’s musings on her “third grandmoth-er,” Rachel Crothers.

All photos by Michael Wilson. mwphotographic.tumblr.com

Spring Benefit 2012 at the Cos Club A Man & Some Women by Rachel Crothers

ABOVE Left: Joan Kedziora and Mint Theater Board member John P. Har-rington. Middle: Benefit Committee members, Ag-nes and Emilio Gautier

LEFT: Benefit guests, Mar-jorie Ellenbogen, Jon Clark and Gretchen Adkins

RIGHT: Mint Board mem-ber & stage director, Elea-nor Reissa with Ryan Fran-co and Benefit Committee members, Carol Tambor and Ruth Friendly.

ABOVE: Rob Brecken-rige (What the Public Wants, Love Goes to Press) LEFT: Kimber-ley Little with Board Chair, Jann Leeming and husband Arthur Little.

TO ORDER TICKETS:FPC Hotline: (212) 315-0231

Fax: (212) 977-5211

Address: 311 W. 43rd St.Suite 307New York, NY 10036

Box Office: M-F 12-6pm

Performances:Tues., Wed., Thurs. 7pmFriday & Saturday 8pmSaturday & Sunday 2pm

Full Price: $55

FPC Price: $38.50 (use code FPC for online orders)

CheapTix: $27.50 (when available)

First-Priority Club Members pay only $38.50 for tickets, saving up to 30%, no matter when you attend (and no services fees)! Limit 4 tickets per member (additional tickets available at full price.)

Order Online! Use code FPC for $38.50 tick-ets. Use your email address or personal Mem-ber ID to order online.

(If the seats you want are unavailable online, chances are we are saving them for FPC mem-bers, so give us a call! )

FPC Members have always called the Mint di-rectly to purchase tickets without paying any service charges—and that will not change. But now our friends at OvationTix will handle phone orders for everybody else.

Did you know that you can help the long-term future of the Mint Theater? Planned gifts help to secure our ability to continue producing the great work you have seen here.

Call (212) 315-0231 for more information on estate-planning and other long-term giving options.

August 18th- October 14th

Special Matinee-

Wed. Sept 19th at 2pmWed. Oct 10th at 2pm

No performances-

Sat. Aug. 18th at 8pm Tues Sept 11 at 7pmTues Oct. 9 at 7pm

Congratualtions Jon & Ryan!

From your friends at the Mint

Long-time Trustee Jon Clark & Ryan Franco married at Mint on Thursday June 28th, 2012. Guests attended Love Goes to Press following the ceremony.

MARY BROOME by Allan Monkhouse

The Conquering HeroBy Allan Monkhouse

Monday October 15th

DINNER: 6:00 PM $60 PER PERSON for FPC Members

(Includes Dinner & Reading)

READING: 8:00 PM

Etcetera Etcetera is located at 352 W. 44th St. (between 8th & 9th Ave.)

READING ONLY: FREE for FPC

Call 212-315-0231 to reserve your seats

Special EnrichMint EventNext at the Mint...

TICKETS

Dear <<FIRST NAME>>,

Your FPC membership <<expired>>on <<FPC Ex-piration>>. <<DON?T>>

The FPC Hotline is 212-315-0231.

I hope you are enjoying your summer. It’s hard to believe that August is just a few days away. I’m writing this note on the eve of the start of rehearsals for MARY BROOME —an exciting time.

I saw MARY BROOME in the spring of 2011 at the Orange Tree Theatre in London. I was there to see the British Premiere of Wife to James Whelan (a production inspired by our Teresa Deevy Project.) While in London, my wife and I went to the Orange Tree to see their marvelous production of MARY BROOME. At the end of the first scene Katie turned to me and said, “You’re going to do this play, aren’t you? You have to do it!” Of course I don’t think these are the kinds of decisions one should make before a play is over—but by the end of the night my mind was made up.

Sam Walters, the artistic director of the Orange Tree, and I have very similar taste. We’re both interested in neglected plays and we’ve become friendly and share notes occasionally. We have a number of plays in common; some that we’ve done first here and others that Sam has

done first. I’m always interested in anything that Sam recommends. I don’t worry about following Sam when it comes to “discovering” this play—it’s a terrific play and I’m looking forward to sharing it with you.

This year at the Orange Tree, Sam produced another Monkhouse play, The Conquering Hero. I’m planning to do a reading of this play on October 15th; you’ll find details inside the newsletter. In addition to the reading, there will be a dinner beforehand, which will feature good company, good food, and some useful and interesting introductory remarks from historian George Robb—an esteemed scholar and author—and a longtime Mint friend. I hope you’ll join us.

Enjoy the rest of your summer. I look forward to seeing you at MARY BROOME.

311 West 43rd Street, Suite # 307New York, NY 10036 www.minttheater.org(212) 315-0231

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Dear Friends,

Fond Regards,

Jonathan

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